The theory behind existentialism, like many philosophical theories, determines a way of life. Life for an existentialist involves becoming the most extreme individual possible, with society pushing back in every way. Societal institutions such as law, religion, and education are some of the biggest threats to an existentialist. They force conformity, for example, in many societies children are required to attend school for a certain amount of time. Law is one of the most restrictive aspects of pretty much all societies, the very essence of law is an offense to an existentialist. It seems to me that to live in a "society" or almost any place that has a group of other humans would mean that one cannot truly ever be an existentialist.
Jessica Benjamin's Bonds of Love theory on independence is that in order to truly be independent one must achieve mutual recognition: they must recognize others while simultaneously being recognized themselves. In these terms, one who exists among others can never be independent and an existentialist, and therefore can never be a true existentialist.
Now, say one lived outside of society, alone, forever in isolation, maybe defining oneself completely could be possible. However, this is not even possible to begin with, as an infant/child cannot survive on its own and therefore develops part of its identity based on the people who raise them. As humans, we can never fully develop ourselves independently of everyone else in society. Even if later in life we decide that we want to become an existentialist, someone who is completely independent and self-defined, I do not believe this is possible because of the formative years of our lives where someone has an influence over us, and this influence cannot be ignored.
Additionally, the basis of existentialism is complete definition of the self by the self. However, this is impossible (in theory) if you tell someone what existentialism is because therefore it is not completely self-defined anymore. Based on this, the rest of society should not know what existentialism is, it should not even exist because by creating a theory it is not longer an individual lifestyle.
Therefore I believe that being a true existentialist, by existentialist terms, is impossible.
I agree, that no one can ever be a true existentialist. Like you said, someone would have to be left on an island completely by themselves to be an existentialist. Then and only then would they be able to develop themselves without the influence of anything or anybody else. I'm not sure that society could even function properly without laws or boundaries.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I think that in order to actually live in a society, we need rules. These rules happen to be laws. As you explained, laws are things that existentialists believe are fabricated to distract us from the idea that life has no purpose. In order to actually live in a fully functioning society, we need these laws. We need to draw lines. If we did not have laws (which I'm sure existentialists would be thrilled if there weren't any laws), then life would be chaotic. Everyone would be doing what they want, and that would generate complete havoc. With rules and standards, we are able to be an organized and smoothly working society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this idea, and I wonder how one would ever truly achieve existentialism. Obviously they could not if they were told of it because then they would be following the rules of existentialism. However I wonder how one could achieve an existentialist state as an independent person.
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